Julius Caesar

Julius Caesar

William Shakespeare has written many plays that touched millions of people throughout the centuries. His works are still the most controversial ones favored by many Literature critics because his plays generate spontaneous debates on issues such as friendship, revenge, human ambitions and moralities that lead to dynamic discussion among people. In the play The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, friendship vs. duty is one of the major themes that is developed. One's struggle over the choice between friendship and duty is depicted through the main character, Brutus, as he battles himself to choose between his duty to carry out people's will and his own conscious hitting on his faithfulness to his best friend Caesar. Although Brutus himself was skeptical if he made the right decision, he joins the conspiracy that plans for the murder of their leader Julius Caesar. The tragic aspect of the play Julius Caesar is that even though Brutus ‘s motives were immaculate, his fear toward Caesar's ambition, Cassius' persuasion, and his tragic flaw, idealism deluded him to make a tragic mistake of assassinating Caesar.

While human ambition is considered an important requirement in achieving one's goal, it often leaves negative impressions to others. People do fear ambitious men because strong desire often leads to selfishness and dictatorship. As Caesar's popularity became more evident, his fellow officers and the nobles were worried that people of Rome might crown Caesar. As early as Act 1 scene one, two tribunes of Rome, Flavius and Marullus show concerns toward a possibility of a new dictatorship in Rome and remind themselves of their duty to protest against such power exercised by one person. Not surprisingly, the rumors of Ca...

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...dealism. His tragic flaw, idealism, makes him to make initial decision, arrived at with such difficulty, that Caesar has to die. Brutus is wrong. Yet when we read carefully, the soliloquy in the garden, it becomes obvious that Brutus is deceiving himself. He confesses that he has "no personal cause" to fear Caesar and furthermore, that he has never known of potential of tyranny in Caesar. His honor and nobility were manipulated by Cassius and at the end, he finishes his life tragically by suiciding. The tragedy of Brutus lies here. Not that he attempted to free the republic of Rome from a tyrannous dictator and was killed in the action; but that, with the best of motives, he was responsible for the murder of Caesar.) (Mowant, P. 23 - 25)

" Thou art the ruins of the noblest man

That ever lived in the tide of times." (Shakespear, Act 3, scene 1, 256 - 257)